The Truth About Chris
by summerdaze87
Summary: Who is the young whitelighter from the Future, really?  Why is he so desperate to save Wyatt?  Note: He is not Piper and Leo's son, but he is related to the Charmed Ones...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed… Seriously, like _this_ story would have ever happened on the show? Yeah… NO!

A/N: So, I have a few other stories to work on, but I sat down to write update them and this came out… Hope you like it! Tell me what you think, okay?

Set during the time Chris is in the Past. He is not Piper and Leo's son, but he is related to the Charmed Ones. Piper is pregnant with the daughter she saw when visiting the Future- Melinda Prudence Halliwell. Chris, his older brother Matt, and Grams cast a glamour spell on Chris to make him appear twenty-two to anyone in the Past. But, because Chris refuses to tell the sisters and Leo who he really is, Penny intercedes and sends the one person she knows her great-grandson will listen to, to the Past.

Penny Halliwell shook her head as she listened in on her youngest great-great-grandson's conversation with his grandmother and great-aunts from the Great Beyond. As usual, the Charmed Ones were pestering the young man for answers about his presence in their lives and about the Future- and, as usual, Chris was stubbornly quoting "Future consequences" as the reason behind his steadfast refusal to give anything up.

_Oh, please,_ Penny thought with a heavy sigh. Penny had tried to make the stubborn boy realize that he _had_ to tell the Charmed Ones and their former whitelighter who he was, but he'd made it quite clear he wasn't going to listen to her on that particular subject.

Which is what had led her to her most recent plan to get her point across to Chris- sending his mother's spirit from the Future to the Past, where she'd be a flesh-and-blood witch/white-lighter, as she had yet to be born in that time and, therefore, could not be dead. Oh, she knew Chris wouldn't appreciate it- knew, too, that her granddaughter would be furious with the actions of her sons… But this was the only way…

One minute, Melinda Halliwell was raging at the Elders- as usual- for not allowing her to watch over her sons and husband, and the next she was standing in the Halliwell attic, where she continued to rage for several seconds before realizing she was no longer Up There.

"Damn it, Jonas!" the deceased witch/whitelighter screamed, her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. "They are my _family_! I demand to be allowed to watch over them!"

It was only then that she realized she was no longer in what she had long ago dubbed "Elderland," but in the manor's attic- surrounded, nonetheless, by people she had not seen in decades.

She felt her stomach drop down to her toes and knew her eyes were practically bugging out of her head. She had no idea how she'd gotten there, but she certainly knew where _there_ was- or, more specifically, _when_ it was.

"Oh, my God," she muttered, pressing a suddenly clammy hand to her forehead as she took in the shocked expressions of her family members. "This isn't happening..."

As they finally seemed to break out of their shock-induced trance a little, Phoebe spoke in an awe-filled voice. "She _orbed_!"

"Uh-huh," Piper and Paige responded in unison, while Leo merely continued to gawk at the dark-haired, doe-eyed young woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties and who had just descended upon them in a cloud of blue lights.

Melinda's brow furrowed and she asked, "I did?" The dead, she knew, could _not_ orb. She'd tried- she'd tried everything in order to see her family again, and nothing had ever worked. _Huh_, she thought to herself, _maybe Jonas finally got tired of my nagging_.

"Hey, what's going on up here?" the Charmed One's whitelighter, Chris Perry, questioned almost angrily as he sauntered through the open door and into the attic, having heard odd noises coming from the room.

While Chris didn't immediately spot Melinda- his gaze was drawn toward his charges and Leo- _she_ saw him. And not the image he projected to the sisters and the Elder, but the ten-year-old boy he was.

Melinda shrieked. "Christopher Perry Halliwell! You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do!"

Naturally, that caught the attention of _everyone_ in the room. "Halliwell?" four voices cried out in unison, their heads swiveling between the young woman and the young whitelighter.


	2. Chapter 2

With a look they were all glad couldn't kill, Melinda chanted in a low voice, "Undo the glamour he has done, reveal to them my son."

In an instant, the glamour spell was undone, and no longer did the Chris they all knew stand before them. In his place was a dark-haired little boy, no older than ten.

Chris was too taken aback by seeing his dead mother to realize what she had said until he spoke and heard not the mature voice of an adult, but the voice of a child. "Mom, is it really you?"

When he realized how his voice sounded, and how much taller everyone around him seemed to be, he understood what his mother had done. Though he scowled at her, the whitelighter couldn't bring himself to be angry at his mother. Instead, for the first time in a year, he acted like the little boy he really was and raced into his mother's arms.

In his timeline, his uncle Wyatt had killed his mother four years ago, right in front of Chris and his older brother, and even their combined powers hadn't been able to heal the extensive damage that had been done.

Melinda fell to her knees and embraced her youngest son, who had been only six years old the last time she'd seen him, and hugged him tightly to her. Tears streamed down both of their faces as they held onto one another, each reluctant to let go.

Piper, Paige, Phoebe, and Leo all watched in silent surprise. How was it possible that Chris was just a little boy? Why had this woman allowed her son to travel back in time alone, to face such danger? Anger coursed through them all- at themselves and each other, for the way they had all treated Chris, as well as at the young woman they saw before them. And, for a moment, they forgot that she'd called him a Halliwell.

Melinda gently pushed her son an arm's length away from herself, clutching his shoulders tightly but careful not to put so much force into the hold that she would hurt him. "Chris, why would you do this? Why would you come here?" she asked in a soft voice filled with concern for her youngest child.

"To stop him from becoming evil, Mom," Chris replied, his voice trembling as he fought tears. It had been hard enough coming to the Past, seeing his grandmother and aunts and grandfather everyday and not knowing how to tell them who he was. But seeing his mom again was too much for the little boy to handle, on top of everything else he'd been through in the past year.

_To stop him from killing you_. Chris didn't speak the words out loud, but Melinda heard them nonetheless. The powers she'd inherited as a member of the Halliwell line had been strengthened as a result of her father being an Elder when she was conceived.

Melinda shuddered and hugged her son close once again. Her little boy had the weight of the world resting on his small shoulders, and it was breaking her heart to see him in such pain. She took hold of Chris' hand and stood, facing her parents and aunts. It was clear that Chris hadn't told them he a Halliwell, and Melinda knew her family well enough to know that they would, without knowing who he was, be suspicious of him. _What must he have gone through?_

"You called him Christopher Perry _Halliwell_," Piper said slowly, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Chris was a mere child and all they had put them through, done to him. They had treated him horribly, and they'd been sorry enough for that when they'd thought he was an adult. But they had been scared for Wyatt's sake and hadn't taken any care with their whitelighter's emotions in their quest to protect the Twice-Blessed child.

Melinda nodded and rested her gaze on her mother's protruding abdomen. Having seen her older brother sleeping contentedly in the playpen they had set up in the corner, Melinda knew that it was her Piper was pregnant with.

Four pairs of eyes followed Melinda's gaze before Piper's head shot up in realization and her own brown eyes locked with Melinda's, a startled expression once more crossing her face. "It's you," she gasped, placing a hand over her stomach.

Melinda nodded as her father and aunt turned to face her as well, stunned by the revelation. "Yeah, it is," she said calmly, though her heart was racing and her hands were sweating. "Melinda Prudence Halliwell," she introduced herself with a small smile.

It had been twenty long years since she had seen her mother, and she had precious few memories of the woman standing before her and, as odd as it might seem, Melinda was more than a little nervous to see Piper Halliwell again.

Phoebe gestured to Chris. "And he's your son…"

Again, Melinda nodded, and Piper clapped a hand over her mouth and fought back tears. "Oh, my God… We've treated our own grandson horribly, Leo," she exclaimed.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Fair warning here, people: you're in for a shock when you get to the end of this chapter… What can I say, my imagination took over… But the twist is too good to pass up- all the possibilities… LOL… Enjoy, and please review! –Jess

Disclaimer: I forgot to add this in the last chapter… I don't own _Charmed_.

Leo had tears in his own eyes as he slowly nodded his agreement, unable to believe how cruel they had been to Chris. He could see it now, how the little boy could be a Halliwell. He looked so much like his mother and, likewise, Melinda looked so much like her own. Only Chris had his eyes.

"I am so sorry," Leo told his grandson, emotion clogging his throat. "No wonder you hate me in the Future."

Melinda gasped. "Dad! Chris doesn't hate you!" she exclaimed, looking down at her son with wide eyes for confirmation.

The little boy shook his head from side to side. It was time to stop hiding behind the excuse of Future consequences and tell them everything. "I don't hate you, Grandpa," he said solemnly, sounding very much like the ten year old he was. "Just the opposite, actually. You and I were so close in the Future, but you d-died," he said tearfully, "just a couple of weeks before I came here. I guess I was still mad at you for dying," he added brokenly.

Leo was utterly shocked by that response, but still rushed forward and wrapped his grandson in a bear-hug. "I may be dead in the Future, but I'm here now, and I promise I'll be a much better grandpa than I have from now on," he told Chris, desperately needing the little boy to know that.

Melinda smiled tearfully as she watched her father and her youngest son together. It was a familiar sight to her, one she had missed. Chris and Leo had always been close, just as her son had said.

"Chris, who all helped you with this plan?" Melinda questioned, hating to break up the little reunion, but knowing it was necessary all the same.

Chris hesitated for a moment before answering, knowing that his mother would just read his mind if he didn't tell her. "Matt and Grams," he said, bowing his head and pretending to take great interest in the attic's floorboards.

Melinda felt her ire rise as she thought of her oldest son and great-grandmother helping Chris travel through time to face numerous demons in order to save his uncle. "What about your father?"

She couldn't- wouldn't- believe that her husband would place their son's life in such danger.

Guiltily, Chris cautiously replied, "Well… You know how Grandma and the aunts stripped Dad of his demonic side?"

At that, the Charmed Ones and Leo gasped, but Melinda merely nodded, encouraging her son to continue. "And… You know how that made him a witch, because he still had all of those powers but there wasn't any evil left him any more?"

Still not seeing where Chris was going with this, Melinda nodded again. "And… You know how you can bind a witch's powers?"

Chris said the last part so quietly that Melinda almost missed it- almost. "You didn't," she said, torn between laughing hysterically at the thought of her mischievous little boys binding their father's powers and giving Chris a lecture that would have his ears ringing for the next week.

When her youngest son nodded, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "And did Matt and Grams help you with _that_, too?"

Chris bit his lip nervously. "Uh, well, kind of, yeah."

Melinda shook her head and bit back a smile as she told Chris, "Fix it." Her son looked like a deer caught in the headlights as she grabbed a piece of chalk off the podium the Book rested on and drew a Triquetra before reciting a familiar incantation… slightly altered. "Hear these words, hear the rhyme, head the hope within my mind. Bring them back to where they'll find, what they wish in place and time."

The Triquetra glowed blue for a moment before a teenage boy, almost identical to Chris with the exception of being several years older and more than a few inches taller. Along with him was a man the Charmed Ones and Leo recognized all too well.

"Cole!" Phoebe gasped, while Piper threw her arms up in preparation vanquish him- again- and Paige readied herself to do battle with the demon.

"Stop!" Melinda shouted to her mother and aunts. "Don't hurt him!"

Her words drew Cole's attention, which had been focused entirely on the sisters- who looked about forty years younger than the last time he'd seen them, with the exception of Piper, since she had died before he and Melinda had ever met. "Lindy?" he asked, his voice catching and quivering just as much as Chris' had when he'd first spotted his mother.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: LOL- I loved reading your reactions… I warned you all! It's a crazy story with some very interesting twists, but at least you all have to admit it's original! LOL… Anyway, I hope you all keep the reviews coming! I love seeing what you all think of it! Now, on with the story!

Disclaimer: Still not mine…

Cole couldn't bring himself to care how it had happened, only that it had. His beloved wife, who'd been dead for four long and torturous years he'd only managed to survive for their sons' sakes, was standing before him- looking ready to light into their oldest at any moment.

In two long strides, Cole reached Melinda and hauled her to him, chanting over and over again, "I love you. I love you. I love you."

While Piper, Leo, and Paige all watched the scene unfold in horrified shock, Phoebe could feel Cole's emotions rolling off of him in waves. "He really loves her," she told her sisters and brother-in-law, her voice trembling with the overload of Cole's emotions.

Melinda returned her husband's hug just as fiercely, but said in a low whisper, "I love you, too, Cole, and I've missed you so much- but you might want to let me go now… They haven't forgiven everything you did in the Past yet, remember."

Reluctantly, Cole relinquished his hold on his wife, not really caring for the idea of having Piper blow him to bits and pieces. However, he kept one hand intertwined with Melinda's as he moved to her side.

A heartbeat later, Melinda was swept away from him as their oldest son- fourteen and already almost six 5'8"- hugged her with all of his might. "Mom," he whispered, anguish and awe coloring his tone.

Melinda wrapped her arms around her son's waist. "I'm here, Matt," she soothed, hating that her boys had suffered so much.

Matt stepped away first, shaken to the core at his mother's presence, but being too much of a teenage boy to allow his emotions to rule him for too long. Melinda took the opportunity to deliver the same order to her oldest son that she'd given her youngest. "Matthew Benjamin Halliwell, I don't know what possessed you and your brother to bind your father's powers, but the two of you had better fix it- _now_."

Because both boys knew better than to argue with their mother when she used their full names, Matt quickly moved to Chris' side. "Uh, we kind of need Grams, too," Matt said. "Since we all bound his powers together…"

With a frustrated sigh, Melinda told her sons, "Then I guess the two of you had better summon her, huh?"

Realizing that their mother meant business, the two boys got to work getting out the candles and arranging them in a circle, while Cole and Melinda faced the music.

"You married _Cole_?" Leo practically screamed, barely containing his confusion. At this point, he wasn't even mad- he hadn't reached that level yet, though Melinda was quite sure that his temper would soon be boiling if they didn't manage to make him understand soon. Right now, he was just trying to figure out how the daughter he had just found out would be born in a few months would grow up to marry the former source.

"Yes, Daddy, I did. We met when I was seventeen," she continued, before they could start asking the barrage of questions she knew were coming- few could stand up to an inquisition the likes of which the Charmed Ones could put you through, and Melinda had only ever managed the feat a few times in her own life.

She gave them all a moment to process that bit of information and to do a few quick calculations, hoping that they would realize that they were, in her timeline, given twenty years to forgive Cole and see all he had done to help them.

"Where exactly did the two of you even meet, Melinda? _How_ did you meet- we _vanquished_ him!" Piper cried, just as baffled by what she was hearing as her husband.

Melinda sighed heavily. "Okay, you all might not understand this," she said and, when they _all_ raised their eyebrows and gave her patented _Gee, you think?_ looks, she hastily corrected, "Alright, so you _don't_ understand it, but you do eventually forgive Cole. And he got over Aunt Phoebe- and, yeah, you sort of did vanquish him; that would be the whole stripping him of his demonic side thing Chris was talking about a minute ago. You vanquished Balthazor- how you did that without killing Cole, no one really knows, but I'm grateful. And, believe it or not- yeah, I know, you're all going with "not" here- so are you. Hell, you're even grateful now- this very minute. Because he's half of the reason you have two wonderful grandsons who came up with the psychotic plan to bind their fathers powers so they could come back to the Past without him stopping them and stop their uncle from becoming the next Source and save all of us."

By the time she'd finished with her speech, Melinda's face was red and everyone quite clearly recognized the infamous Halliwell temper glowing in her brown eyes. Cole was smart enough to take a step to the side before she unconsciously sent something- or someone- flying, which she had been known to do from time to time if she got angry enough, and something told him she just might be getting there.

After taking a deep breath of much needed air, Melinda turned in a slow semi-circle and noticed that her sons had completed the circle needed to call Grams. Lowering her lids to slits over her eyes, she called her grandmother to the Halliwell home- and readied herself to give the woman hell for helping her sons with their devious plan.

"Hear these words, hear my cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the Great Divide."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Here's the next chapter! Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming!

-Jess

Disclaimer: Yeah, still not mine, okay?

Penelope Halliwell arrived in the room from the Great Beyond in a glow of golden lights and with a smile on her face, despite the fact that she was well-aware her actions had infuriated her great-granddaughter and that she would be facing the consequences in a matter of time.

As Melinda had said the spell she'd memorized as a child, her voice had dropped to an ominously low octave, which her husband and sons recognized as a warning that things were about to get ugly.

Before Penny could so much as greet her granddaughters and grandson-in-law, Melinda started in on her.

"What on Earth were you thinking, Grams, to let two children-_children_!- bind their father's powers? And just how in the hell did you manage to justify sending my baby boy to the Past, _disguised as an adult_?" Melinda hollered, her voice shaking with barely restrained emotion.

Penny gave a weary sigh. It was times like this that her great-great-granddaughter most reminded her of the woman she'd been in a former life. Years ago, when Penny herself had been just a girl, the spirit of the young woman standing before her and reading her the riot act had been her cousin and best friend. Patricia, however, had died at the unfortunate age of twenty-one after being attacked by a demon. Two years later, Penny had named Patty after her.

Not that Melinda- or anyone, for that matter- knew that Melinda was the reincarnation of Patricia Bowen. Nor, Penny thought as her gaze briefly wandered to her youngest granddaughter, did anyone realize that in her 1920's former life, Paige had been Paige Baxter- the mother of Priscilla Baxter, Penny's own mother.

But Penny would have to worry about the insecurities Paige still faced about her place in the Halliwell family another time. Right now, she had a Mama Bear to talk down in the form of Melinda- not an easy task, given that, on this, Melinda largely took after Piper.

"It really was the only way, Melinda, dear," Penny began with a resigned sigh. It wasn't as if she hadn't wracked her brain to come up with another solution, or that she'd ever been particularly happy about this one. Alright, fine, so she might have been _a little_ pleased about binding Cole's powers, and with the help of his sons, nonetheless.

Melinda glared at her great-grandmother- the kind of glare that might have landed a person six feet under if Superman had used it- and huffed, "The only way to fix this mess was to send _my ten-year-old son to the Past_?" So, maybe it was more a case of she screamed the question, rather than huffed it…

Unperturbed- or, at least, not overly perturbed- Penny pushed on. "Yes, dear, it was. I know it's difficult, but you must put aside your feelings for a moment and think about this rationally." She hesitated for a moment when she saw Melinda's hands fist at her sides. It wasn't often that her normally pacifist great-granddaughter lost her temper, but when she did… Well, needless to say, it was not a pretty sight.

Penny held up a hand to ward off any off-color remarks Melinda might care to make- and, if necessary, deflect anything that might come her way. "For obvious reasons, we couldn't send Cole- your mother and aunts, not to mention your father, would have trusted him even less than they trusted Christopher up to this point, and you know it.

"And Matthew is older, more adept at dealing with Wyatt. He stood a better chance of being able to protect himself in that timeline than Christopher did if we had sent Matthew instead."

Melinda seemed to consider that for a moment before she slowly- and more than a little reluctantly- nodded her agreement. "Alright, I can see that. But, and this is not to say that I in any way relish the idea of both of my sons being in further emotional or physical danger, but why did you have to separate them at all? They've always been stronger together," she pointed out.

Chris and Matt's bond ran just as strong as the Charmed Ones'… Just as strong as hers and Wyatt's had once been, many years ago. She didn't understand why that hadn't been taken into consideration.

Much to her surprise- though, admittedly, it shouldn't have been one at all, seeing as this was Penny Halliwell she was talking to- her great-grandmother nodded her understanding. "I know, dear, but then that would have left Cole unprotected. Without his powers, he would have had no way to defend himself against any attempts on his life." She left it unspoken that it was generally on Wyatt's orders- if not by Wyatt himself- that those attempts were made.

And, so, they had sent Chris- her baby. Her sweet, innocent little boy- who had clearly grown up much too quickly in the past four years. And Matthew, who she still saw as her precious ten-year-old son, with his heart of gold and mind like a steel trap, had been left to protect his father.

Tears burned her eyes as Melinda sunk to the old couch and held her hands out. Without hesitation, both of her sons raced to her, understanding that the pain she was feeling was for them. They had both grown up too quickly since her death.

"How long has Chris been here?" she finally croaked out several minutes later, still clutching her sons tightly, as though she could protect them from every evil in the world- and, by God, she would, she swore it. She wouldn't let the Future they knew come to pass.

There was a moment of hesitant silence before Cole spoke up. "A little over a year," he said quietly, pushing his own feelings for the situation at hand aside for his wife's sake.

Melinda's eyes flashed with pain and fury, and Cole knew instantly that the Future as he and his family had known it was about to be changed. Melinda would settle for no less than her sons deserved- happy, normal (alright, as normal as possible, given that their father was a reformed demon with a witch's powers and that their mother was the daughter of an Elder and a Charmed One) lives that included their mom.

But it was Piper Melinda's gaze locked with as she spoke. "The Halliwell tradition of mothers dying young ends now- we will change it so that it doesn't just start with Grandma Patty's death… It'll end with it."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for the delay! Thanks for being patient, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter! -Jess

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah…

The next several moments passed in near silence, with the only sound being Melinda's muffled crying as she hugged her sons. She didn't notice the looks on her family's faces as they all took a few minutes to think about everything that had been revealed in the past few minutes and what all it meant.

From his place beside Piper, Leo watched Cole a little warily, wondering how his daughter had ended up with the apparently former demon. Though he hated to admit it, it was obvious Cole cared for Melinda a great deal. Even when he'd been married to Phoebe, Leo had never seen such devotion in Cole's eyes. He felt a pang of sympathy for the centuries-old man/demon/witch- whatever the hell he was. Sure, he and Piper had had their rough times, and yeah, they'd separated for a while there, but she'd never been completely out of his life. He didn't want to think about what it would be like to lose her, and promised himself that he'd do everything in his vast power to keep that from happening.

Piper was just as confused about the whole Cole and Melinda thing as Leo, but after her daughter's outburst, decided maybe it was best not bring that up again. And, if she couldn't talk about how weird it seemed to her, then she really shouldn't think about it, lest she be tempted to talk about. Instead, she focused on the more important issues at hand- like how horribly she'd treated a little boy who had only been nine when he'd first arrived in her time and who also happened to be her grandson. She wondered at the courage it must have taken him to make that journey alone, knowing that he'd be meeting people he'd never had the chance to know, and seeing people he'd lost so tragically. It was no wonder he'd been angry at Leo since arriving- though he'd been disguised as a twenty-two-year-old, he was just a child and hadn't learned to cope with his powerful emotions in other ways yet.

Sandwiched between her two older sisters, Paige watched her niece with her family. She, too, was amazed by the strength and courage both of her great-nephews had shown, and how cleverly thought-out their plan was. Though she was more than a little weirded-out with Melinda's marriage to Cole, she didn't need Phoebe's powers of empathy to recognize the love between the two, nor the love they both felt for their sons. She'd expected Cole to be angrier at Chris and Matt for binding his powers, at Chris for putting himself in such danger, and at Matt for helping come up with the plan. But, though he'd been mad when he'd first come through the portal- that had been clear to see- what he felt for his family was even more powerful.

Penny was smiling- for the first time since Melinda's death, Matthew and Christopher seemed like the children they were. Oh, Matthew would argue that he was a teenager, not a child, but she knew better. Of course, to her, he'd always be a child. Of all her great-great-grandchildren, and she had several of them, Matthew was her favorite. She'd never let anyone else know it, of course, but he was. He'd be horrified if he ever found out, too. She wondered what the family members gathered around her would say if she ever revealed what she knew- that Matthew was the reincarnation of Andy's spirit.

Andy's reincarnation and his brother were telepathically passing thoughts back and forth as they clung to their mother. As happy as Matt was to see his mom again- and to be able to hug her, nonetheless!- he was concerned for his younger brother. He and Chris had been communicating with Grams' help for the past year, and he knew how hard things had been for Chris. From the moment Chris had first telepathically spoken to him from their mother's womb, Matt had protected his baby brother. Since Melinda's death, he'd taken that role even more seriously than before. Maybe it was because Chris reminded him so much of their mother, not just with his looks but with his temperament.

Chris was trying to understand his own emotions, and was thankful for his older brother's presence in his mind because Matt would help him. He'd fought so hard for the past year to put aside his feelings that had bombarded him the moment he'd first seen the his aunts and grandmother- and grandfather. Leo had always been there for him, a rare constant in his Future, and it had both comforted him to have Leo with him, though he'd still missed Matt and his dad terribly, and it had pained him deeply to have to see him day in and day out, as well. Now, to have his mom back for whatever reason… He felt like an emotional wreck. Having his dad and brother, along with Grams, though, made him feel better- just like it always did. As he hugged his mom, he finally admitted to himself what he was fighting for here in the Past- the family that had started falling apart years ago, in his Future at least, with his grandmother's death, not just to save his uncle from becoming the Source.

And though they didn't know it, Melinda was sharing her sons' thoughts- literally. Sure, they knew she had the ability to do it, but they couldn't always sense her presence in their minds. At the moment, she was glad of that. She was so proud of Matt for always wanting to protect Chris and for always being there for him, and of Chris for making this trip. The easy trust between her sons made her realize that not everything that had happened since her death was horrible- Matt and Chris were still her little boys, despite having grown up far more than they should have in the past few years.

Phoebe rested her hand on Piper's abdomen. It must have been as though she was touching Melinda, making a connection to her, because she had a premonition. While her sisters and brother-in-law were wondering how on Earth Melinda and Cole had met and fallen in love, Phoebe saw it… and almost burst out laughing when it ended. Not everything in the Future was bad, she realized, though she desperately hoped that it would still get better…


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I hope you all have been paying attention to the bits about reincarnation- I promise, they will all come into play later in the story.

Disclaimer: So far, Santa has refused to grant my request of owning _Charmed_… And my Fairy Godmother hasn't been much help there, either…

Startled by Phoebe's sudden outburst of laughter, her family members were jolted out of their reveries and immediately turned their questioning gazes to her.

In a voice filled with mirth and laughter still shining in her eyes, Phoebe teased, "I know how they got together," in much the same way a small child might taunt, "I know something you don't know."

Cole and Melinda shared a brief look of sheer panic. Judging by her family's reaction this time around- they'd actually taken it pretty well in the Future, no doubt as a result of the fact that they'd all long since moved on and forgiven Cole- the couple wondered if Melinda's parents and aunts would take the opportunity to keep their marriage from happening in the Future.

Phoebe, however, quickly set their minds at ease with a gently smile, saying, "Don't worry- we won't stop you two from meeting and getting married." She raised one questioning eyebrow to her sisters and brother-in-law, daring them to contradict her.

No one did.

"We promise, okay?" Paige, despite her reluctance to agree with the union, finally exclaimed, having grown weary of the heavy silence that had descended upon the room. It was obvious that, no matter how bizarre it seemed to any of them, Melinda and Cole belonged together. Phoebe's recently struck-up friendship with Coop, a Cupid, was apparently rubbing off on the middle Charmed One, who seemed hell-bent on keeping Cole and Melinda together.

As though she'd only just realized that Coop was a Cupid, Paige made a mental note to ask him if Melinda and Cole really did belong together- just to be on the safe side.

Phoebe waited until Piper and Leo had nodded their agreement before explaining her vision- and, thus, her near-hysterical laughter. She looked toward her Future niece and ex-husband (shouldn't that have seemed weirder to her?) for confirmation as she spoke.

"Paige, you and Leo work at Magic School together in the Future," Phoebe told her sister, instantly feeling her sister's joy over hearing that the school she'd come to love and which had become her pet project would indeed survive. "The two of you introduce them…" She smiled somewhat deviously as she added, "Cole was dressed like the two of you- he's a teacher at Magic School!" she laughed, finding it immensely funny that Cole was a teacher, and that he worked alongside Paige and Leo.

"Cole?" Paige choked the name out on a startled laugh, trying to picture the scene in her head as Phoebe must have seen it- and failing. "There's no way Cole becomes a teacher," she chuckled.

When Melinda turned a glower on her aunt, Paige realized that maybe making fun of the father of her great-nephews probably wasn't the best idea in the world.

While Paige was trying to stifle her laughter- and failing miserably- Leo had turned about as white as the Elder robes he usually wore, though they were absent from his attire of jeans and a tee-shirt today. "Cole becomes a teacher _at Magic School_?" he gasped, thinking about just how many ways in which the Future really was messed up.

Phoebe gave a half-hearted shrug, thoroughly enjoying the surprise she'd unveiled. "According to my vision, yeah," she replied with a smile, turning to look again at Cole and Melinda to hear the whole of the story. Although, even she could not have predicted what Melinda and Cole would add to the story.

Melinda seated Chris on her lap, still amazed that she was finally able to hold her sons again, and wrapped her arms around her youngest son's waist. Cole sat beside his wife on Aunt Pearl's ancient sofa, and Matt took the empty seat on the other side of his mother. That family of four looked picture-perfect, except for the sadness lingering in the depths of each of their gazes.

As much as they hated to admit it, it was becoming easier with each passing moment for the sisters and Leo- especially Piper and Leo- to believe that the family before them had once been truly happy, before Melinda's death, and that Cole had done his best to raise their sons in the years since.

They were beginning to see Cole not as the demon he had been only short time ago- to them, at least- or even as Phoebe's obsessive, stalker-like ex-husband who hadn't been able to let her go, but as an innocent… a man who desperately needed their help to save his family.

"Phoebe's vision is accurate," Cole said, a reminiscent smile settling on his face as he recalled the day he and Melinda had first met.

With an agreeing nod, Melinda added, "But, Dad, you and Aunt Paige don't just _work _at Magic School- you run it together in the Future. You hired Cole."

That seemed to bring Leo out of the stupor he'd entered upon first hearing Cole taught at Magic School. In unison, he and Paige shouted, "_We_ hired Cole?" Both were wondering why on Earth they would have brought Cole back into their lives.

The combined shrieks of his father and aunt were enough to wake the slumbering baby Wyatt, who teetered just a bit as he stood and gripped the side of his playpen. His eyes darted to the people responsible for rousing him from sleep before drifting over to Melinda.

Offering her a toothy grin, the baby orbed himself into Matt's lap. His oldest nephew reacted quickly and reached out to hold the young version of his uncle, while said young version of his uncle stood up on wobbly legs and placed his chubby hands on either side of Melinda's face.

"'El!" he shouted gleefully, stunning almost everyone in the room. Since arriving in the Past, Chris had had the eerie feeling that Wyatt recognized him, though he'd never voiced that particular thought. And Penny… Well, Penny was Penny. Of course _she_ knew that Wyatt recognized not only his younger sister and her youngest son, but both Matt and Cole as well… Just as she knew _why_ he recognized them…


End file.
